22 July 2021 - Researcher Diaries

The Science of Child Development

Parenting and Parenthood, Science and Research

When thinking about the first years of a child’s life, it is important to understand that these early years are fundamental to their future health and development in being healthy and strong. The brain grows at a fast pace from birth through to early childhood. The brain does continue to develop and change into adulthood, but the first 8 years […]

Latest Posts

Science of Baby Sleeping Schedule at 10 Months Old

Baby sleeping patterns may vary for each baby and the pattern can change over time. There is no universal sleeping schedule or pattern that will work for all ages of babies and predicting when they will sleep is nearly impossible. Scientific research can help a parent to understand the general trends in sleeping patterns and schedules of their baby. In a scientific study on American babies, more than 15% of parents agreed that their 10-month-old babies hadn’t reached the goal of sleeping at least 5 hours at a time. Most parents’ nights have become quieter and the babies are sleeping more at this age. It is still a normal occurrence that babies at this age will still wake at least 3 times during the night. They will be able to get back to sleep easier and have learned to do so by themselves. By this stage, they tend to spend less time napping but still nap up to twice a day and sleep up to 16 hours every day. Since one of the most important contributors to a baby’s physical and psychological development is sleeping, your baby’s sleeping schedule needs to be helpful. One way that we influence our babies’ sleep patterns is through our attitudes and beliefs about infant sleep. Scientific studies into baby sleeping show that about 30% of babies experience night awakenings throughout their first 2 years of life. As it is important for your baby to get sufficient amounts of sleep, it is important to follow sleeping schedules and consult a pediatrician if there are major sleeping issues. Sleeping is a highly dynamic developmental process, especially in a 10 month old sleep schedule for babies. More research on scientific facts on the development of your baby’s brain can help to get them to achieve enough sleep during the night.
Sleep Regression in Different Ages

Sleep regressions exist throughout different months of a baby’s first year of life. The timeframe for sleep regressions usually lasts for about three to six weeks and causes a baby to wake from their sleep frequently at night or during daytime naps. The science behind sleep regression can be due to the development of the brain and your baby starting to notice activities and sounds happening around them. In the first 12 months of a baby’s life, their brain is still developing and can cause sleeping regression to occur frequently at different ages. Here we have a look at some of the different sleep regression ages. 4 Month Sleep Regression At 4 months old, a baby is experiencing permanent changes to their development and sleeping habits. At 4 months, a baby starts to sleep more solidly and not as unpredictably as from birth. At 4 months, you can expect the baby to wake frequently during the night and shorter nap times. 8 Month Sleep Regression The 8-month sleep regression happens due to developmental milestones that are occurring between 8 and 9 months of age. Around this age, the physical development of a baby reaches a significant point. At this age, they will start crawling and pulling up. This is the age where they focus on speaking. 10 Month Sleep Regression This entire sleep regression lasts for three to six weeks and some days might be better than others. At this stage, many babies can stand up which can complicate the sleeping patterns and schedules. 11 – 12 Month Sleep Regression The 11 and 12-month sleep regressions are not as common as the 4-10 months sleep regressions. This sleep regression has a lot to do with daytime naps, many babies start refusing their second daytime nap at this age.
The Science of Child Development

When thinking about the first years of a child’s life, it is important to understand that these early years are fundamental to their future health and development in being healthy and strong. The brain grows at a fast pace from birth through to early childhood. The brain does continue to develop and change into adulthood, but the first 8 years are vital towards building good future learning and health. It is important to know that proper nutrition should start during pregnancy to help with the development of the baby’s brain. Even the experiences of meeting other people and worldly experiences can affect brain development in the early years. Early childhood experiences are important for the development of the brain as children are born ready to learn. They have many skills to learn over many years in their lifespan and depend on parents and people around them to develop their skills and become independent. How the brain develops is largely affected by the experiences that infants receive with other people and the world, including the parents. Babies learn more efficiently in safe environments, protected from neglect and extreme stress. They should have many opportunities to explore and play. Exposure to stress and trauma causes long-term negative consequences for the development of the brain, which makes talking, laughing, and reading important, as it stimulates the brain. Promoting the positive development of the brain can start with pregnancy by advocating a healthy diet and the right nutrients which will promote a healthy pregnancy and nervous system in the growing baby. Healthy brain growth in an infant depends on the right care and nutrition that the infant is receiving. The child’s brain is still growing and is vulnerable to head injuries and toxins. Healthy brain development can be achieved by being responsive to the care of the baby’s body and mind. Different life experiences can add a lot to how a baby’s future life turns out. Positive and negative experiences can shape a child’s development and have lifelong effects on who they become and how they react and feel. Reading, laughing, and talking in a kind voice to your baby can have a positive effect on their lives and how they will develop into healthy young children.
Scientific Studies for Raising Children

The news is sometimes dominated by breakthroughs in children’s medical research. To know which findings are worth looking at can be difficult and very time-consuming. In a world where news is prominent on all platforms, including newspapers and any smart device or television, it’s difficult to keep up with all the information about children’s health and development. This makes things difficult in deciding which studies to trust when it comes to our children. Here is a look at some of the breakthrough medical findings focused on children’s health. Probiotics Can Soothe Colic This research found that the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri significantly reduces crying and fussing in breastfed infants. The studies included giving infants treatment of probiotics. The results showed that crying with breastfed babies was reduced significantly, but not with formula-fed infants. The microbiome is the blend of good and bad bugs that live inside our guts. Probiotics contain microorganisms that are similar to the good bacteria in the intestines that minimize bad bacteria. Probiotics are also known to reduce inflammation. Marijuana Stays in Breast milk According to a study at the University of California, San Diego, THC (the primary psychoactive component of marijuana) stays in breastmilk for a long time. Fifty nursing moms who are regular users of marijuana donated milk samples to a milk research biorepository. The research showed that THC traces can still be found in the milk for up to six full days after the mom’s last reported use. In today’s world, marijuana is legal in many states in different countries, this makes a lot of mothers feel that it could be safe to use marijuana to calm down and de-stress. It has also been proven to help with morning sickness. The AAP advises that mothers should rather be safe and not use marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding. Peanut Powder can Aid in Preventing Life-Threatening Reactions in Infants Taking small amounts of peanut-protein powder daily, allowed many children with allergies aged between 4 and 17 to build up a tolerance to peanuts. The treatment went on for about 12 months and two-thirds of the children were able to tolerate the equivalent of eating two peanuts. The symptoms were very mild according to a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. There are many ways in which a child with a peanut allergy can by mistake get peanuts into their system and cause a very troubling and scary moment for a parent and child. This treatment is the first of its kind in providing a focus on preventing anaphylactic attacks. It is with thanks to science that this important and knowledgeable information and research has been found with the possibilities of saving children from unhealthy ways and can contribute to healthy parenting.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31